Golf is a game in which a golfer uses special clubs to strike a golf ball with a goal of sinking the golf ball into a sunken cup located on each of successive golf greens with as few strokes as possible. The game of golf grew from its inception as a pastime to its present-day status as competitive professional sport. Today, a professional golfer can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars for winning a single golf tournament. An adage commonly known among professional golfers is "drive for show; putt for dough". This adage implies that in order to be successful at golf, a golfer must become proficient at putting. To illustrate the importance of putting consider a typical eighteen-hole golf course rated at par seventy-two. This means that in order to play at par on such a course, a golfer can strike his/her golf ball only seventy-two times. A general rule of thumb is that the golfer should utilize two putting strokes for each of the eighteen golf greens for a total of thirty-six putting strokes. The remaining thirty-six strokes require the golfer to utilize his/her other golf clubs in order to strike the golf ball to advance it onto the golf greens. By these figures, one could easily see how important putting is to the golfer in order to score well when playing golf.
To putt well, the golfer must consider numerous factors before making his/her putt. Such factors include the amount and direction of the slope of the golf green relative to the golf ball from the sunken cup, the general direction of the grain of the grass, the intended line of travel on which the golf ball will approach the cup after being struck by the putter and various breaks from the intended line of travel that a rolling golf ball may make when approaching the cup due to the contour of the green. Usually, the golfer will consider these factors when standing or crouching behind his/her ball and facing the cup. Surveying these factors while standing or crouching behind the ball and facing the cup affords the golfer a first perspective for determining the intended line of travel of the golf ball to the cup.
Once the golfer determines his/her intended line of travel on which to putt the golf ball to the cup, the golfer, with his/her putter in hand, addresses the golf ball. When addressing the golf ball, the golfer enters into a putting stance. In a typical putting stance, the golfer is slightly hunched over the golf ball and the golfer's feet straddle the golf ball to form an imaginary line which is substantially parallel to the intended line of travel of the putt. Simultaneously, the face of the club head of the putter is aligned substantially perpendicular to the intended line of travel of the putt. While in this putting stance, the golfer usually rotates his/her head to verify that the face of the club head of the putter is appropriately aligned with the intended line of travel of the putt. A second perspective is now observed by the golfer which is different from the first perspective generated while surveying the intended line of travel of the putt as seen from behind the golf ball. When a difference in apparent direction of an object as seen from two different points not on a straight line with the object is observed, a parallax occurs. Parallax is one of several reasons why putting is difficult.
To assist the golfer in minimizing this parallactic problem, a golf club putter was developed that has an enlarged, weighted head. This enlarged, weighted head enables the golf club putter to support itself in an upright state on substantially flat putting surfaces. Now, before surveying the putt, a golfer can align his/her golf club putter with the golf ball on an intended line of travel. During the golfer's survey, the golfer can now determine the intended line of travel of the putt and verify the appropriate alignment of the face of the club head of the putter relative to the intended line of travel. If desired, the self-supporting putter could be adjusted and another survey could be conducted to assure its appropriate alignment of the club face with the intended line of travel of the putt.
Another way of minimizing this parallactic problem is to have a caddy or another golfer stand behind the golf ball and face the cup. The caddy or golfer can now give instructions to the putting golfer for the appropriate alignment. However, golf tournament rules require the caddy or other golfer to step aside before the putting golfer is allowed to strike the golf ball. Unfortunately, the movement of stepping aside could be a distraction to the putting golfer.
For reasons yet to be determined, many golfers become emotionally attached to their putter. Even though an enlarged, weighted putter can afford the golfer an advantage when putting, the typical golfer is not easily dissuaded from using his/her favorite putter. Therefore, a need exists for a golfer who desires to improve the putting aspect of his/her golf game to provide a means by which the golfer can convert his/her own putter to a self-supporting one. It would also be desirable if such a means could be adjustable to facilitate various slopes in the terrain of the golf green. The present invention is directed to such a device.